Dakota Johnson

Dakota Mayi Johnson is an American actress born on October 4, 1989. She is the daughter of actors Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith, and her maternal grandparents are actress Tippi Hedren and former child actor Peter Griffith. Raised in various filming locations, Colorado, and California, she began modeling at age 12 and later attended high school in Santa Monica. She made her film debut as a child in 1999's Crazy in Alabama, directed by her former stepfather Antonio Banderas. In 2006, she served as Miss Golden Globe and signed with IMG Models.

After graduating high school and taking acting classes, Johnson launched her professional acting career with supporting appearances in films such as The Social Network (2010), Beastly (2011), 21 Jump Street (2012), and The Five-Year Engagement (2012). From 2012 to 2013, she played the co-lead in the television sitcom Ben and Kate. She also appeared in the series finale of The Office in 2013.

Johnson achieved her global career breakthrough playing Anastasia Steele in the Fifty Shades romantic drama film trilogy from 2015 to 2018. Following her breakthrough, she expanded her filmography with roles in Black Mass (2015), Luca Guadagnino's A Bigger Splash (2015) and Suspiria (2018), How to Be Single (2016), and Bad Times at the El Royale (2018). In 2019, she starred in the psychological horror film Wounds, the drama Our Friend, and the hit independent adventure film The Peanut Butter Falcon.

In 2020, Johnson co-founded the production company TeaTime Pictures and made her music video directorial debut with Coldplay's "Cry Cry Cry". That same year, she starred in the dramedy The High Note. Her subsequent feature film credits include starring and co-producing roles in projects such as The Lost Daughter (2021), Persuasion (2022), Am I Ok? (2022), Cha Cha Real Smooth (2022), Daddio (2023), Madame Web (2024), Splitsville (2025), and Materialists (2025).

Over the course of her career, Johnson has earned an Independent Spirit Award alongside nominations for a BAFTA Award and a Critics' Choice Award. She was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2016 and was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences the same year. Her upcoming projects include starring in the film adaptation of Verity and directing the film A Tree is Blue.